Il “Penetration Fighter” Xf-90: Uno Dei Pochi Fallimenti Di Kelly Johnson E Della Lockheed

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Il “Penetration Fighter” Xf-90: Uno Dei Pochi Fallimenti Di Kelly Johnson E Della Lockheed IL “PENETRATION FIGHTER” XF-90: UNO DEI POCHI FALLIMENTI DI KELLY JOHNSON E DELLA LOCKHEED Il primo prototipo del Lockheed XF-90 (s/n 46-687) in volo sopra la base aerea di Muroc, diventata proprio in quei mesi Edwards AFB. IL “PENETRATION FIGHTER” Stanley Baldwin nel 1932, nel suo discorso “A Fear for the Future” al Parlamento Britan- nico, disse che «The bomber will always get through», il bombardiere riuscirà sempre a passare. I bombardamenti strategici sulla Germania fecero vedere che “passare” per il bombardiere era possibile ma nient’affatto facile. La soluzione britannica fu quella del bombardamento notturno. La soluzione americana fu quella del bombardamento diurno con una scorta di caccia a lungo raggio. Quello che si rivelò essere l’aereo giusto fu il North American P-51 Mustang. L’esperienza fatta sui cieli tedeschi spinse l’USAAF a concettualizzare l’idea di un “pene- tration fighter”. In teoria il penetration fighter si distingueva dall’escort fighter perché, pur destinati entrambi ad attaccare gli intercettori avversari, il penetration fighter non operava a stretta difesa dei bombardieri, anzi aveva molti punti in comune con l’intruder, caccia notturni o bombardieri leggeri (il Mosquito sopra tutti) che avevano lo scopo di con- trastare le difese aeree avversarie. La teoria era che il penetration fighter avrebbe dovuto combattere davanti all’ondata dei bombardieri per creare delle lacune nella difesa aerea avversaria. Il penetration fighter si ispirava quindi, più che alle missioni di scorta diretta, alle varie missioni “Circus” e “Rhubarb” organizzate dalla RAF per passare all’offensiva dopo la Battaglia d’Inghilterra. Alla fine si trattava comunque di lana caprina, dato che per ragioni economiche il ruolo di penetration fighter, escort fighter e intruder sarebbe stato ricoperto da un unico model- lo di aereo. A partire ancora dalla Seconda Guerra Mondiale furono sviluppati tutta una se- rie di prototipi di caccia di scorta a lungo raggio destinati soprattutto al teatro del Pacifico. Tra questi il North American P-82 Twin Mustang, il Consolidated Vultee XP-81 (ibrido tur- boelica/getto) e il Fisher P-75 Eagle. Fu presto chiaro che il futuro era però dei caccia a getto, e a metà 1945 l’USAAF emise specifiche per tre nuovi aerei: un caccia ognitempo, un intercettore per la difesa di punto e un penetration fighter. Il 23 novembre 1945 l’US Army specificò che era richiesto un caccia a reazione con una velocità massima di 600 miglia orarie a livello del mare, una salita a 35.000 piedi in meno di 10 minuti e un raggio d’azione di almeno 900 miglia. L’armamento sarebbe stato di 6 mitragliatrici da 0,60 pollici o meglio ancora 6 cannoni da 20 mm. Avrrebbe dovuto inoltre avere due motori, dei tipi già disponibili. Il nuovo caccia avrebbe sostituito tutti i day fighters allora in sviluppo, tra cui P-80, P-84 e P-86. Dopo varie vicissitudini e ripensamenti, per le quali rimandiamo al bel libro di Jenkins & Landis citato in bibliografia, furono ordinati prototipi di tre dei progetti presentati: il McDonnell P-88, da cui derivò direttamente l’F-101, il North American P-86C (poi F-93), una riprogettazione del Sabre, e il Lockheed P-90 (nel 1948 la neonata USAF sostituì poi la “P” di Pursuit con la “F” di Fighter). Il 20 giugno 1946 la Lockheed ottenne così un con- tratto per due prototipi del suo aereo, i s/n 46-687 e s/n 46-688. Gli altri due “competitors” della specifica per il “penetration fighter”: sopra, il North American YF-93; sotto, il vincitore, il McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo (il cui sviluppo porterà all’F-101). LO SVILUPPO DELL’XF-90 La Lockheed fece inizialmente due proposte per il “penetration fighter”, ma furono en- trambe scartate. La prima infatti prevedeva il nuovo motore assiale L-1000 della stessa Lockheed, per l’epoca molto avanzato ma che esisteva ancora solo sulla carta. La specifica però era chiara sul fatto che uno dei requisiti era l’utilizzo di un motore già disponibile, e non di un “paper engine”. La seconda proposta Lockheed prevedeva il General Electric TG-180 (XJ35), ma il progetto non offriva nulla più di quanto poteva offrire il North Ame- rican P-86 allora in fase di sviluppo. Sembrava non ci fosse più nulla da fare, quando dei due finalisti della specifica, McDon- nell e Convair, l’USAAF decise di scartare la Convair in quanto vincitrice anche della speci- fica per l’intercettore per difesa di punto (quello che poi diventerà l’XF-92 ed, indiretta- mente, l’F-102). A quel punto gli Skunk Works Lockheed avevano già rielaborato ulterior- mente il disegno per utilizzare due motori Westinghouse J34. Sbattuta fuori dalla porta, la Lockheed era rientrata per la finestra. La riprogettazione del penetration fighter della Lockheed era stata affidata a Don Pal- mer e Bill Ralston degli Skunk Works diretti da Kelly Johnson (secondo un’altra fonte, Johnson affidò il progetto a Willis Hawkins). Progettare un caccia a lungo raggio propulsi dai turbogetti allora disponibili non era comunque impresa facile. I turbogetti degli anni Quaranta avevano infatti dei consumi ancora troppo elevati ed erano perciò adatti soprat- tutto ad intercettori a breve raggio. Gli Skunk Works non partirono comunque da zero, poiché già a partire dal 1945 gli Skunk Works stavano lavorando a dei modelli più avanzati del P-80 Shooting Star. Nel 1946 l’architettura dell’aereo non era ancora stata ben definita: si passò dalle ali a freccia ad ali a freccia variabile, poi ancora ad ali a delta. ma le prove nella galleria del vento della Lockheed non mostrarono i guadagni aerodinamici che ci si aspettava, creando oltretutto problemi di peso. A fine 1947 il disegno, noto come Model 153, si era finalmente precisato in un aereo con ala a freccia di 35° propulso da due turboreattori Westinghouse J34 posti affiancati lungo l’asse longitudinale dell’aereo. Anche gli impennaggi erano a freccia. Ancora il 46-687 sopra Muroc (René Francillon Archive, public domain via WikiCommons). DESCRIZIONE TECNICA L’XF-90 si presentava come un aereo molto più grande del predecessore P-80, ma so- prattutto di concezione più avanzata. La forma aerodinamica più curata gli dava anche una maggiore eleganza. La prua era a forma di cono appuntito e non più bombata come nel P-80, ed era dotata di un tubo di Pitot. L’abitacolo, pressurizzato, era dotato di seggiolino eiettabile e di capot- tina a goccia in due elementi. I motori (XF-90A) erano due assiali Westinghouse J34-WE-15 da 13,8 kN ciascuno (18,2 kN con a/b), montati affiancati nella fusoliera posteriore e alimentati da prese d'aria laterali. La formula delle prese d’aria laterali era mutuata dallo Shooting Star, ma queste erano di disegno più avanzato. Il solo carburante interno era insufficiente per un caccia a lungo raggio, e furono perciò adottati due serbatoi ausiliari alle estremità alari in modo da portare il carburante a 1.665 galloni (6.308 litri). Con l’uso del postbruciatore i consumi aumentavano considerevolmente e questi grandi serbatoi alle estremità alari diventarono indispensabili. Questi raddoppiavano sì il raggio d’azione dell’XF-90A, ma comportavano un ulteriore aumento di peso che aggravava ancor di più le prestazioni dell’aereo che nono- stante i postbruciatori rimanevano anemiche. Le ali avevano una freccia di 35°, con ipersostentatori (slat) sul bordo d’attacco più iper- sostentatori (flap) Fowler ed alettoni sul bordo d’uscita. Lo stabilizzatore verticale aveva la peculiarità di poter essere spostato avanti e indietro allo scopo di facilitare la regolazione degli stabilizzatori orizzontali. Per un breve periodo fu provata anche una configurazione con ala a delta, ma questa non soddisfece i progettisti della Lockheed. L’armamento principale proposto era di sei cannoni da 20 mm, ma era possibile anche portare un carico bellico di bombe e razzi HVAR. I cannoni avrebbero dovuto essere posti al di sotto delle prese d’aria, tre per parte. L’uso di pezzi forgiati in lega di alluminio 75ST anziché 24ST, al tempo standard, portò sì ad una cellula molto robusta, quattro volte lo standard normale, ma anche ad un peso a vuoto superiore del 50% rispetto a quello dei due concorrenti e dell’80% rispetto ad un F- 86. L’aereo era capace sì di sopportare 12 g, ma era più pesante di un DC-3. L’XF-90 ripreso sulla pista a Muroc; si notano bene la pianta alare e gli impennaggi. IMPIEGO OPERATIVO Il primo prototipo volò il 3 giugno 1949 con il collaudatore della Lockheed Tony LeVier ai comandi. Senza postbruciatori, i due Westinghouse XJ34-WE-11 non riuscivano nem- meno a fornire la velocità di decollo (il rapporto peso/potenza era di appena 0,22), e non solo si dovette rifornire l’aereo di una quantità minima di carburante, ma si dovette anche ricorrere a canisters di razzi RATO. Questo per tutti i primi 17 voli dell’aereo, che come si può immaginare non era di pilotaggio facile. Kelly Johnson aveva già previsto che l’XF-90 avrebbe avuto bisogno di un postbruciato- re, e perciò aveva iniziato a far progettare ai suoi sottoposti una versione con a/b dell’ae- reo, ancora prima che questo volasse. Per questo motivo la Lockheed stava già testando vari tipi di postbruciatore sul secondo prototipo del P-80 opportunamente modificato. Fi- nalmente a settembre 1949 la Westinghouse fornì il J34 munito di postbruciatore, che ven- ne installato sul secondo prototipo dell’F-90. Il secondo prototipo prese così la sigla XF- 90A. L’XF-90A compì il suo primo volo il 12 aprile 1950.
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